Thread: f-write stdout

  1. #1
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    f-write stdout

    I have this little program. It outputs the binary conversion to the console (aka garbled output). Is there a way to fwrite() numerical types to the output?

    Code:
    #include   int main()
    {   
      float f = 0.1;
      fwrite(&f, sizeof f, 1, stdout);   
      return 0;
    }

  2. #2
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    Yes, you use fprintf() instead.

    Or you sprintf it to a string, then fwrite the string.
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
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    I was looking to not use printf family of functions.
    Curious though why doesn't fwrite() work in this example? This is what a few tutorials show how to use fwrite().

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    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    How does it not work? Your own post #1 implies that it works, just that you want to do something else.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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    What is fwrite() doing? It's outputting the contents at &f in its binary form to stdout. Seems I need another operation to do the actual conversion to a type float. My bad...

    Now it gets worse. I'm going to ftoa() before calling fwrite().

    I wonder if you guys have any qualitative insight into representing numeric data in human readable form this way over printf. printf is certainly an easier and legible way to do it but I have the flexibility to omit conveniences for the timebeing.

  6. #6
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wiqxlzxsxj
    Seems I need another operation to do the actual conversion to a type float.
    It already is a float. What you want to do is print a textual representation of the float.

    Quote Originally Posted by wiqxlzxsxj
    I'm going to ftoa() before calling fwrite().
    What's the point? ftoa is a non-standard function, whereas you have the family of printf/sprintf functions that are already part of the standard library.

    Quote Originally Posted by wiqxlzxsxj
    I wonder if you guys have any qualitative insight into representing numeric data in human readable form this way over printf. printf is certainly an easier and legible way to do it but I have the flexibility to omit conveniences for the timebeing.
    Is there something about printf that isn't doing the job the way you want it? You need to figure that part out before you try building something better, otherwise there's a pretty good chance you'll waste your time building what has already been done, or maybe even end up with something worse.

    Or perhaps you just want to do the learning exercise of writing a float to text function?
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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    Quote Originally Posted by laserlight View Post
    It already is a float. What you want to do is print a textual representation of the float.
    Yes this is what I want.

  8. #8
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    1) Declare a char array
    2) Using the function "sprintf", put the float into a string format and in the char array
    3) Print the char array to the screen

    Here is a quick overview of sprintf and the example at the bottom will help you a lot - C library function - sprintf() - Tutorialspoint
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    No .

  10. #10
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Well, if you want further help, I'd suggest that you start my answering my questions from my previous post:
    Quote Originally Posted by laserlight
    Is there something about printf that isn't doing the job the way you want it? You need to figure that part out before you try building something better, otherwise there's a pretty good chance you'll waste your time building what has already been done, or maybe even end up with something worse.

    Or perhaps you just want to do the learning exercise of writing a float to text function?
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

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    Quote Originally Posted by laserlight
    Is there something about printf that isn't doing the job the way you want it? You need to figure that part out before you try building something better, otherwise there's a pretty good chance you'll waste your time building what has already been done, or maybe even end up with something worse.

    Or perhaps you just want to do the learning exercise of writing a float to text function?
    The printf family of functions work perfectly in my example and are legible to read. They are "the standard" way to implement io/manipulate strings.
    I'm looking for a more direct way to just print out chars and types to the console.
    See here's the problem, functions like printf are taken for granted and hide away all the underlying mechanics. I don't really know or understand how these functions actually work.
    When someone comes in with a printf solution that's not addressing the real problem.
    I'm well aware by trying to build something better, this results in something worse, usually. I'm a strong proponent of KISS.
    printf works by format specifiers which I don't need. I need to print just two or three char[] and numerical types at a time.
    So my question is, I'm looking for a barebones way of getting things printed to the console.
    Let's think asm for a moment. Can I get some explanation of using C instead to solve such a problem?

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    Quote Originally Posted by wiqxlzxsxj View Post
    The printf family of functions work perfectly in my example and are legible to read. They are "the standard" way to implement io/manipulate strings.
    I'm looking for a more direct way to just print out chars and types to the console.
    Then, I suggest you start to study how to print floating point values from scratch. It's not a simple task:

    How to print floating point numbers accurately

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    Quote Originally Posted by flp1969 View Post
    Then, I suggest you start to study how to print floating point values from scratch. It's not a simple task:

    How to print floating point numbers accurately
    Thanks for the link - I quite often code my own conversion functions for integers, but floating point has always scared me because of complexity and corner cases.

    Seems I was right to be scared, and will continue to keep well away.

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